We had a very lazy start to the day. Steve tried to find an RV dealer who stocked the thermister for our fridge...not one stocks it...but they will order one in for us if we want. Sheesh! That is when "plan b" formulated. The biggest and most popular dealer, Christies RV, said that the part would be in Wednesday, so Steve asked if we could leave the trailer there for a week while we take a trip down to Michigan to see friends. Turns out, they said yes...will install the termister when it comes in and monitor the fridge to see if that was the problem. If not, they will continue with diagnosis and (hopefully) it will be fixed upon our return next week.

After that, Steve sat with the laptop, editing pictures from the last 2 days of driving. I putzed around doing a little of this and that.

Dave and Lisa picked us around 3:30 to take us on a little tour of the city. They...and Lisa's sister, Leonie and husband, Armand, were the first folks we met as we headed east in our first year on the road (we only made it as far as Niagara Falls that year before heading south). That was 8 years ago (in September) and we all still stay in touch! We have seen Leonie and Armand in Arizona a couple of times and one year, all 4 of them came out to Quartzsite for a visit. We were hoping to be able to get together with all 4 of them this trip, but unfortunately we missed Armand and Leonie...they have gone to visit their granddaughter. Oh well...hopefully we can connect down in Arizona this winter.

The original Sault Ste. Marie Canal and lock opened in 1895. It was the world’s longest lock and the first to be powered by electricity. Though the historic lock closed more than two decades ago, the original lock gate machinery is still used in the new lock and interpreters/guides will be on hand to share its history. Built inside the original historic lock chamber, the recreational lock opened in 1998 and is available for all pleasure watercraft from kayaks and sailboats to tour boats and yachts.

1 Canal Drive building...

Inside the Visitors Centre...top of the photo the black lettering says "You are here" The locks on the Canadian side are no longer used by freighters. The bottom of the photo shows the locks on the US side in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan that can handle the 1000' freighters.

Model showing how the lock works...

Lisa, Dave and me...

Looking from the above walkway towards Lake Superior...

Looking from the walkway towards Lake Huron....

Back of the 1 Canal Drive building...Love the architecture. There's an old pulp mill nearby with much larger buildings built like this.

The tent in the distance is the Roberta Bondar Park, born here, she was Canada's first female astronaut and the first neurologist in space...

A tour boat was due to come through the locks...but it wouldn't be for another 45 minutes, so we all got back in the car and headed for a drive through the city and checked out another park...

The bridge to Sault Ste Marie, Michigan in the distance...

We were back 45 minutes later...and we had just missed it! Sheesh! Oh well, the fellows at the centre said there will be another one coming through at 7:00...okay, we'll be back. We'll go for dinner in the meantime.

We went to Chummy's Grill...a popular spot on the Batchewana First Nations Reservation that Lisa and Dave go to often.

There were very cool wood carvings everywhere inside...these are just a couple of them.

We had a great dinner...see the size of Steve's burger and fries?! My chef's salad was also huge! The food was excellent and the company great! Great pick Dave and Lisa!

With our tummies full, we headed back to the locks, arriving well before 7:00 for our third visit. Steve took more pictures of the historic site...

Wow, that's a big butterfly valve!

Steve went up on the roof top of one of the buildings and took 5 pictures, stitching them together...this is the result. No the canal does not curve like that!

While the rest of us wait patiently for any sign of a tour boat coming through the locks...

Nope...there doesn't appear to be a 7 pm boat like we were told...

By 7:15 we had given up hope of a boat coming through...3rd strike! Oh well, it is a beautiful area and we certainly got lots of information on the history of the canal and locks.

Before heading home, they drove us up to the top of a hill where you can get a view of the city and the steel mill...it is huge! The trees are really starting to block the views though...

The other half of the steel mill is out of view from the trees...

Back at the campground, Dave and Lisa came in and we continued our visit for a while longer. It was going on 9:00 when, with big hugs, they said goodbye. It was absolutely wonderful seeing you both again! Thanks for your hospitality...the tour and dinner were perfect!

Banff

About Us

We married in 1982 and our sons, Rob and Chris were born in 1983 and 1985. In 1990 we built our dream home in North Saanich just north of Victoria BC on 1.21 acres. We both had long careers, Dianne in Human Resources and Steve as Branch Manager for a controls systems wholesaler.
Steve always felt that there were no guarantees in life as far as health and mortality went, so we planned to retire early and RV full-time.
In late 2009 we began the build process on our custom Toy Hauler truck, taking delivery in early 2010. We moved into our new Montana 5th wheel in Feb 2010, living in it for 4 months while still working. In May 2010 we purchased 2 Yamaha Grizzly 550 ATVs. We're ready!
Just shy of our 55th birthdays, on June 25, 2010 we retired and started our life as gypsies.
We prefer dry camping (boondocking), getting as far away from civilization as possible. However, our size limits us from getting into all of those remote areas. Good thing we have the ATVs to explore with.